Finding the Best Restaurants in CT
Have you ever spent over half an hour searching online for the best restaurant for a great experience with someone special? It’s hard to know if a restaurant will provide that inviting and comfortable environment to have quality conversations. I mean, every once in awhile a roaring restaurant crowd with dozens of people waiting to be seated can get exciting as you feel the loud energy.
But sometimes you just need that place where you’re not shouting at your partner. Or maybe you need to find a restaurant where you can meet with an important client, or treat your company staff to an environment where you feel like you’re definitely not in the office anymore, away from the highway traffic, city noises, and complexities of navigating around a city.
In Connecticut, there are a growing number of farm to table restaurants. I don’t think it’s a temporary trend. As the cost of food and fuel rises with inflation, so does stress. This is where the farm-to-table restaurant comes in: food from local farms and suppliers, and providing a relaxing experience that’s worth paying for in this busy life!
Trying to find a unique farm to table restaurant for your next free weekend? Take a country drive out to one of Connecticut’s newest restaurants, The Chef’s Table at Little Dipper Farm.
Top Farm-to-Table Restaurant in Northeastern CT
The Chef’s Table at Little Dipper Farm is located off of the busy Route 6 and Route 169 in Brooklyn, CT. Named as one of the top scenic drives of Connecticut, Route 169 connects Massachusetts to Connecticut through the town of Woodstock down through the heart of eastern Connecticut’s farmland.
If you’re coming from Massachusetts or Boston area, you could come down 290/I-395 and get off the highway in Brooklyn. If you’re searching for a restaurant experience that involves scenic drives, navigate your GPS to 499 Wolf Den Road, Brooklyn, CT!
When looking at farm to table restaurants, or any restaurants that claim they buy from local farms (rather than getting a semi-truck shipment from a Sysco truck), it’s pretty typical to only see pictures online of the food. But when you look up Little Dipper Farm, you’ll see that the restaurant offers gorgeous views, and it’s surrounded by hay fields, a pond. Across the road is the greenhouse and expansive gardens where much of the vegetables and herbs are harvested from.
How often do you see the chef out on the farm? When Chef Brian Paszko isn’t cooking up a storm in the barn’s kitchen, you might find him brainstorming recipe ideas while roaming the garden paths to check up on the latest growth of vegetables.
Every week is different out on the farm, and when something’s ready to get harvested, the life of a farm-to-table chef gets super exciting because the flavors are as fresh as you’re going to get!
Like, this garlic is planted the previous year in the fall. It feels like you’re waiting forever for the garlic to get ready. It’s like 9 months of waiting except you’re not birthing a child. Nine or ten months of waiting for that fresh garlic to pull and dry. When the garlic is completely dry, there’s nothing like using as much garlic as you want for cooking up an amazing dish.
And did you know, most garlic consumed in the United States isn’t even from around here, it’s mostly from China. Who wants to eat old garlic that’s traveled thousands of miles, when you can grow it right here outside of a farm to table restaurant?
The Fine Dining Restaurant Experience at Little Dipper Farm
Many regulars at The Chef’s Table at Little Dipper Farm love how the interior of the barn has been slightly renovated to create a pleasant experience. The new windows bring in sunlight, and air conditioning helps with keeping a comfortable dining experience.
Furthermore, the atmosphere is unlike many other farm to table restaurants in Connecticut. You feel like you’ve stepped back into time. The large windows give way to views of the horses grazing in the field behind the restaurant. If you’re sitting outside and gaze into the distance near the pond, you might spot a bald eagle or osprey.
With a cocktail in hand, the aroma of good food being cooked, you can enjoy a relaxing afternoon or evening that will make you want to come back because you’ll probably dream about it!
Because the menu is truly farm to table, each time you come, your food options might be different because the Chef cooks with what’s seasonal and available. But this keeps the dining experience interesting and often times (for me anyway) it’s very inspiring to taste what’s been cooked out of wholesome ingredients.
For more info, visit the website to learn more about one of the top farm-to-table restaurants in Northeastern Connecticut.
